How do you write good drum tracks?
What to avoid? What do you have to absolutely do?
What do you do differently for verse, chorus and bridge?
How do you write your intros and solos?
I already asked u/tronobro about what to do when the drums are the starting point for the song, what is your take on how to write great drums when you are the first?
How much variation should there be in a good drumtrack? I usually just repeat the same stuff within the verse and then within the chorus and the bridge. so there is 3 different measures that get looked for each part so the verse and the bridge and chorus are all different but inside of them it's a loop.
How much uniqueness do you put within a verse? should I completely stop with looping the same measure 16 times for a verse and instead make every measure have some variations?
Again, there is no simple answer ) If you have only drums, I would keep it simple. It's more about structure. When you add other instruments and vocals, you may add or remove some parts. But you can't write great drums to a song that does not exist. Usually, it starts with lyrics or some jam ideas. Or probably you have some drum pattern that you want to implement in the song.
Here is a great video about my favorite rhythm section. There is a timestamp with a great example that sometimes less is more.
thanks your kind responding!
May I ask one follow up?
How much variety does there have to be? can I get away with all my drumparts just basically looping for the entirety of the chorus or do i need to stop thinking in this way and just play through the entire verse with one long part where there is no internal reptition?
There is nothing that 'has to be', it completely depends on the song. Sometimes it's better to play the whole verse/chorus by repeating one bar. Sometimes you want to add some variations like a slightly opened hi-hat after each two or four bars. Or you add a short fill after 4 bars and a long fill after 8 bars. Or you go crazy and play 'phrases' over 4-8 bars or even more, like here
thank you u/tarasik i appreciate it!
First and foremost, learn what makes a good drum part. A good drum part first and foremost serves the song / music.
The question of how to best "serve" the music can be answered through study. Listen to some great songs in the genre you're working in and try to play and dissect the drum parts. Try and figure out the why and how of what the drums contribute to the song.
The drums are just another aspect of song writing so it's important consider a drum part in context of what other instruments in the song are doing as well.
thanks your kindly response! So what makes a good drum part if the drum track is the first thing laid down for a new song.
Usually the pianist/guitarist/bandleader comes up with a theme or an idea. But what do you do when the drums are the starting point? From what you have written I assume you would say to then leave room or carve out space for the other instruments? Or write the drums with the other instruments in mind?
If the drums are the starting point you can kind of do whatever you want! The main thing to keep in mind would be the song form. Have an idea of how the song flows from one section to the next and evolves over time. Keep in mind where the climaxes and memorable moments of the song will be. Knowing this at the start will help you write a drum part that appropriately develops as the song progresses through the different sections of the form.
Another thing to keep in mind would be to leave space for the other instruments. If you play super busy, the other instruments will need to play more sparsely, and vice versa. If everyone's playing super busy it can get very crowded. That might be an effect you're going for and it isn't necessarily a bad thing to do, but you need to ensure that all the different parts from the different instruments fit together nicely.
thanks very enlightening. Basically you do have to envision the complete song or at least keep it in mind.
Yeah. At the very least a road map or a plan for how you want the song to progress. If you decide later that you want the song to be different from your initial plan that's perfectly fine! It's good to allow room for a song to develop and evolve as you write it.
My approach to this has changed over time.
In the early years it was about how I could write the most exciting parts that showed an audience what I was capable of playing. Little thought was placed into what the song needed. All I saw was a time signature and a tempo, and off I went.
Now that I'm a lot older and much more experienced, I still like to write the most exciting drum parts that I can, but what has changed is what I define as exciting.
There's an elegance in simplicity. Like somebody who is able to speak succinctly and to a point using just a few words. Or an artist that can capture a subject's likeness using just a few simple lines. Its efficient, and elegant.
So for me these days, its not so much about developing the skills to be able to write a part. I *have* the skills. The question is: With all these tools at my disposal, which approach would result in the BEST drum part for the tune? To be able to create something that is both elegant and efficient is to me a great drum part.
I hear you: it takes a genius to do it simple, anybody can pile on complexities. What I mean is: knowing what you can leave out takes a master of his art.
By not “writing” them, but rather playing what’s best for the song.
A helpful hint for anybody who is doing sessions, really the number one rule is, don't even be thinking about what you're going to do, or how people in the studio are going to look over and dig that you're doing a good job. Try to be completely aware of the song - try to hear the song as many times as possible and play for the song, not for yourself or for the contractor or for whomever else.
Master Jeff Porcaro
great quote!
The answer is wildly different depending on what style of music you’re writing parts for. In my band, drums are usually the last thing to get recorded—our singer will write the song with a sequenced drum machine track. At that point, i lock in with the melody and any important motifs in the song and do my best to write a part that compliments those. Honestly the best way to write a great drum part is to write a simple drum part. Chop responsibly. :)
There are a few key elements of songwriting that you can also do when it comes to crafting a drum part. Keep in mind these aren't "rules" you need to use, just common approaches.
1) The verse of a song searches for something and the chorus delivers it.
2) Arrangements tend to grow in tension, complexity, and volume as the song progresses. The end of a song is often a relief of all the tension that's been built. A good mixing engineer will often aid this approach by making the finale of the song the loudest, fullest, and widest you'll hear. Often that involves dialing back those elements for early parts in the song so there's somewhere left to go when you get to the end. Same thing can be applied to crafting your drum parts.
If you want a clinic in a drum part getting more complex and fuller/louder through the song, check out Tom Sawyer by Rush or 46 & 2 by Tool. Yes both of these are prog rock but they're pretty blatant examples of arrangement approaches. Nirvana's Smell Like Teen Spirit follows a similar format and it's pretty easy to hear what Grohl is doing throughout the track
Listen to the podcast drum with Mike and eddy. It’s two professional drummers. They have done a few episodes breaking down how they write songs using drum less tracks
Avoid parts that are not suitable for the song, and absolutely do parts that support and improve the song ))
Seriously, I don't think there is a recipe. Listen to many different music, and try to think about what you like, and what not. And more important - write and play a looot of drum parts. Write, listen, analyze, fix, rinse repeat ) The more experience you get, the easier and faster this process will be.